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Lamin A is a nuclear lamina constituent implicated in a number of human disorders including Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy. Since increasing evidence suggests a role of the lamin A precursor in nuclear functions, we investigated the processing of prelamin A during differentiation of C2C12 mouse myoblasts. We show that both protein levels and cellular localization of prelamin A are modulated during myoblast activation. Similar changes of lamin A-binding proteins emerin and LAP2alpha were observed. Furthermore, prelamin A was found in a complex with LAP2alpha in differentiating myoblasts. Prelamin A accumulation in cycling myoblasts by expressing unprocessable mutants affected LAP2alpha and PCNA amount and increased caveolin 3 mRNA and protein levels, while accumulation of prelamin A in differentiated muscle cells following treatment with a farnesyl transferase inhibitor appeared to inhibit caveolin 3 expression. Our data provide evidence for a critical role of the lamin A precursor in the early steps of muscle cell differentiation.

Monoclonal antibodies raised against two isoforms (170 and 150 180 kDa) of DNA topoisomerase II showed distinct fluorescence patterns in HeLa cells in different moments of the cell cycle ( C. Negri et al. , 1992 , Exp. Cell Res. 200, 452–459). The ultrastructural distribution of the 150 180 -kDa isoform, which in immunofluorescence showed a localization into the nucleolar region, has been analyzed by electron microscopy with a gold-conjugated secondary antibody in HeLa and K562 cells. The results indicate that this isoform of the enzyme is exclusively localized in the nucleolus, mainly in the dense fibrillar component, while the nucleoplasm of interphase cells and the chromosomes of mitotic cells are completely negative. The antibody also reacts with the nucleolus of isolated nuclei and with the nucleolar remnant of purified nuclear matrices. A quantitative evaluation of the label distribution indicates that the percentage of label in the nucleolar remnant of isolated matrix is almost identical to that of the nucleolus in whole cells. The interaction with the insoluble proteins of the isolated nuclear matrix is also demonstrated by quantitative immunoblotting in which the MoAb specifically stains a unique band corresponding to the 150 180 -kDa isoform of topoisomerase II. The localization of the 150 180 -kDa isoform of topoisomerase II in the nucleolar remnant strongly suggests that it represents a structural element for the spatial organization and for the regulation of transcription of the ribosomal genes.

Monoclonal antibodies raised against DNA topoisomerase I and against topoisomerase II alpha and beta isoforms, which have been previously demonstrated to be highly specific and capable of detecting cell cycle-related variations of the topoisomerase II isoforms (Negri et al., 1992, Exp. Cell Res. 200, 452-459), have been utilized for a fine subcellular localization. Immunocytochemistry by confocal and electron microscopy have been used for a topological and quantitative evaluation of the fine distribution of the different topoisomerases in HeLa and K562 cells. Topoisomerase I and topoisomerase II alpha are present both in the nucleoplasm and in the nucleolus, though at different relative ratios, while topoisomerase II beta is exclusively present at the nucleolar level. This is further confirmed by immunoblotting and immunocytochemical quantitative evaluations performed on purified nuclear matrix fractions obtained from K562 cells. In fact, the amount of topoisomerase I and topoisomerase II alpha present in the whole cell nuclei is partly lost in isolated nuclei but, while topoisomerase I is further significantly reduced in nuclear matrix preparations, the topoisomerase II alpha content is only slightly decreased. On the other hand, the great majority of topoisomerase II beta is retained in the nuclear matrix and can be detected exclusively in association with the nucleolar remnant. These results are consistent with specific functional roles hypothesized for the different topoisomerase types.

The fine subcellular localization of different phosphoinositidase C (PIC) isoforms has been determined by both electron microscope immunocytochemistry and immunoblotting in whole Swiss 3T3 cells as well as in subcellular fractions. PIC-beta, whose signaling activity has been recently demonstrated at the nuclear level (M. A. Martelli, R. S. Gilmour, V. Bertagnolo, L. M. Neri, L. Manzoli, and L. Cocco, Nature, 358, 242-244, 1992), is mainly localized in the interchromatin domains, while it is almost absent from the cytoplasm. PIC-gamma is almost absent from the nucleus and resides in the cytosol, while PIC-delta is undetectable in these cells. PIC-beta is retained in the inner nuclear matrix and lacks the nuclear pore-lamina complex, whereas PIC-gamma is preferentially associated with cytoskeletal filaments. Moreover, PIC-beta is present at the same sites of the nuclear matrix where phospholipids and protein kinase C can be identified. This indicates that some elements of the phosphoinositide signal transduction system are located inside the nucleus. Moreover, PIC-gamma association with the cytoskeleton filaments suggests a possible involvement of this enzyme in cytoskeleton-mediated changes of cell shape.

Several monoclonal antibodies of different isotypes specific to human DNA topoisomerase I, to 170- and 180-kDa DNA topoisomerase II isozymes, were produced and characterized. The specificity of monoclonal antibodies was confirmed by comparison with polyclonal antibodies by Western blot, by immunoprecipitation of enzyme activity, and by immunoprecipitation of DNA topoisomerases with characterized polyclonal antisera. Morphological studies performed by immunofluorescence indicate that the three groups of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) stain the nucleus with characteristic patterns, which can be compared with those obtained with polyclonal antibodies. In particular the MoAbs to the 100-kDa DNA topoisomerase I stain the nucleolus and the nucleoplasm; the MoAbs to 170- and 180-kDa DNA topoisomerase II give completely distinct intranuclear patterns: those to the 170-kDa protein stain mainly the nucleoplasm, whereas those to the 180-kDa protein stain only the nucleolus. The two DNA topoisomerase II isozymes clearly exhibit fluctuations in their expression during cell growth: the 170-kDa isozyme is more abundant during the logarithmic phase of growth, while the 180-kDa isozyme is mainly present during the plateau phase of growth.

The ultrastructural organization of nuclear matrix, purified from intact or membrane-denuded rat liver nuclei, has been analysed by means of freeze-fracturing technique. This method avoids dehydration and embedding which, in conventional thin sectioning, partly distort or mask the matrix ultrastructure. The various matrix components, and mainly the peripheral lamina and the inner network revealed complex arrangements undetectable with conventional techniques. Morphometric analyses performed with a Texture Analysis System (TAS) Leitz, allowed to obtain precise information on the matrix constituents, based on the histograms of their size distribution. These textural characteristics have been utilized in order to identify, by means of a particular computer programme, the putative matrix localization within intact freeze-fractured nuclei.

By utilizing a slow cooling process the occurrence of ribosome crystallization has been demonstrated in lymphoid infiltrating cells in tumorous organs of chickens affected with Marek's disease but not in the parenchymal cells of the same organs. Moreover the slow cooling treatment can induce ribosome crystallization in proliferating cell populations of normal chickens but not in stable differentiated cell populations. This morphological evidence permits the formulation of an hypothesis which correlates the formation of ribosome crystalline aggregates to the inhibition of the ribosome apparatus during some phases of the cell cycle.